Autumn 2017 Economic Forecast: European growth has now accelerated

The euro area economy is on track to grow at its fastest pace in a decade this year, with real GDP growth forecast at 2.2%.

This is substantially higher than expected in spring (1.7%).

According to its Autumn Forecast, the European Commission expects growth to continue in both the euro area and in the EU at 2.1% in 2018 and at 1.9% in 2019 (Spring Forecast: 2018: 1.8% in the euro area, 1.9% in the EU).

Although the cyclical recovery has now been underway for 18 uninterrupted quarters, it remains incomplete, with for instance still significant slack in the labour market and untypically low wage growth. GDP growth and inflation are therefore still dependent on policy support.